Ice, Ice, Baby

When you live in a permanently steamy city such as Bangkok, dreaming about cooler places is a full-time hobby. But you don’t have to go all the way to the North Pole to experience arctic coldness: you can do it right here in Bangkok, and it’s actually good for you.

APEX’s invitation to check out Ice Lab couldn’t have come at a better time: smack in the middle of a very hot day. After being out in the sun for approximately two seconds we were already sweating buckets. We couldn’t get an Uber fast enough!

Now, let’s get to know this cool (duh) place a little better. First, you might have heard about cryotherapy, a pain treatment that uses a method of localized freezing temperatures. The technology was developed in Germany. Rather than localized freezing, however, the Ice Lab takes a more holistic approach and offers a full body experience.

So, how does it work? Basically, you walk through three rooms of decreasing coldness (-10, -60, and -110 degrees Celsius), and in each passing room the humidity levels are lower, with the last room at zero humidity. It’s in this zero humidity, -110 degree Celsius room that your body gains various health benefits over a span of three mere minutes. With every inhalation, you get twice the oxygen you normally would outside, and health benefits include rejuvenation, stress relief, improved blood circulation, skin rejuvenation, detoxification, reduced inflammation, and burning calories (they say you burn up to 800 calories in just three minutes!)

Before you enter the first room, you are given protective clothing to keep sensitive parts of the body warm, such as the earlobes. The first room reminded me of a freezer at home; the second room was even colder and, to be honest, quite painful. Next was the hardest part: being in a -110 degree Celsius room. My body started to tremble and my flesh felt like it was about to explode. After walking out of the room, however, I felt instantly refreshed and energetic, and the coldness was nothing but a distant memory with benefits that, hopefully, have lingered long afterward.